Absolute Temperature Scale

Definition - What does Absolute Temperature Scale mean?

An Absolute Temperature Scale is a temperature measuring scale that has the hypothetical lowest limit of the physical temperature assigned as absolute zero. This means that if the temperature of the object is relative to the absolute zero, then the object is at absolute zero temperature (absolute zero is represented as 0 K).

The commonly used absolute temperature scale is Kelvin (K) which makes use of Celsius degree scale. There is another absolute temperature scale called as Rankine which makes use of Fahrenheit degree scale.

Petropedia explains Absolute Temperature Scale

Absolute temperature is also known as thermodynamic temperature because it is related to thermodynamics. In fact absolute temperature is defined from Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics. At absolute temperature or absolute zero, there is no heat energy in an object whatsoever. To convert Celsius degree scale to Kelvin degree scale, we add 273.15 to the degree Celsius value. For example, if the object has a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius at room temperature, then in absolute scale, this object will have a temperature of 298.15 K (25 + 273.15).